Reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei is flanked by former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahy and Amr Moussa during an opposition press conference at which they shunned President Mohamed Morsi's offer of talks. The National Salvation Front called for nationwide demonstrations on 1 February, to achieve the 'goals of the revolution'. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

•Barack Obama has defended his decision not to intervene in Syria by suggesting that to do so would provoke further violence. Speaking to New Republic magazine, the US president said: "In a situation like Syria, I have to ask: can we make a difference in that situation? Could it trigger even worse violence or the use of chemical weapons? What offers the best prospect of a stable post-Assad regime? And how do I weigh tens of thousands who've been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?" In a separate interview with CBS he added: "We do nobody a service when we leap before we look, where we ... take on things without having thought through all the consequences of it ... sometimes that we don't just shoot from the hip."

Man killed in Cairo

A man was shot dead on Monday in a fifth day of violence in Egypt that has killed 50 people, according to the latest from Reuters.

Police fired volleys of teargas at stone-throwing protesters near Tahrir Square. A 46-year-old bystander was killed by a gunshot, a security source said. It was not clear who opened fire.

Protesters battled police with rocks along the Nile near Tahrir Square in Cairo for a fifth consecutive day on Monday. Photograph: Cliff Cheney/Zuma Press/Corbis

Reuters also has more details on the opposition's refusal to enter talks with the government, and concerns about the imposition of emergency law. They demanded that Morsi announce his responsibility for the bloodshed, it said.

'We will send a message to the Egyptian people and the president of the republic about what we think are the essentials for dialogue. If he agrees to them, we are ready for dialogue,' opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei told a news conference.

The opposition Front has distanced itself from the latest flare-ups but said Morsi should have acted far sooner to impose security measures that would have ended the violence.

'Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground, which is his own policies,' Front spokesman Khaled Dawoud said after Morsi made his declaration.

Other activists said Morsi's measures to try to impose control on the turbulent streets could backfire.

'Martial law, state of emergency and army arrests of civilians are not a solution to the crisis,' Ahmed Maher of the April 6 movement that helped galvanise the 2011 uprising said. 'All this will do is further provoke the youth. The solution has to be a political one that addresses the roots of the problem.'

Rights activists said Morsi's declaration was a backward step for Egypt, which was under emergency law for Mubarak's entire 30-year rule. His police used the sweeping arrest provisions to muzzle dissent and round up opponents, including members of the Brotherhood and even Morsi himself.

Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo said the police, still hated by many Egyptians for their heavy-handed tactics under Mubarak, would once again have the right to arrest people 'purely because they look suspicious', undermining efforts to create a more efficient and respected police force.

'It is a classic knee-jerk reaction to think the emergency law will help bring security,' she said. 'It gives so much discretion to the ministry of interior that it ends up causing more abuse, which in turn causes more anger.'

Updated at 4.53pm GMT

2.52pm GMT

Syrian refugee

"How long will we have to stay?" asks Um Munaf a Syrian refugee and mother of six who feels trapped in the Turkish refugee camp of Tal Abyad.

Speaking to the Guardian's Mona Mahmood, she said:

I fled to the camp last month with my six children and their grandfather. We used to live in Deir Ezzor, but we could not stand the relentless bombing by the planes. It became really scary.

The airport is still under the control of the Syrian military and their planes have never stop targeting us. Our house was partly damaged and the village is deserted.

We are relieved not be hearing the sounds of the shelling any more, and we feel safe enough. But what is really worrying me, and the others here, is how will we have to stay?

Is Syria going to be liberated soon or in a year or more? How long will the Turks put up with us? Am I going to see my house again and what would be the future of my children? We think of these things all the time?

My husband had fled Syria to UAE three years ago but he can't invite us to join him. The UAE do not want Syrian people to come. All their propaganda of their willingness and desire to help us is untrue. We are stuck in the camp. If you want to down to the city, you have to apply and get a permission. You are only allowed out once a week ...

After we crossed into Turkey we were taken to the Tal Abyad camp.

We were given a small tent, with heaters, blankets and some clothes for the kids.

The main problem the refugees face here is fires caused by the heaters. Seven tents have been burned because of heaters and a month ago four members of a family were killed by fire at night.

We noticed the fired only after the tent had been completely destroyed.

Food is available here, we received three ready meals per a day, as well as milk for kids. There are kitchens as well as bathrooms to wash the clothes, but the morale of the children is so low.

They keep waking up at night crying. Thank God a school was opened recently in the camp. It means my children have somewhere to go and can learn.

Young Syrian refugees stand in front of a tent at Bab al-Salam refugee camp in Azaz, near the Syrian-Turkish border. More than 600,000 Syrians have fled abroad. Photograph: Muzaffar Salman/Reuters

Opposition rejects dialogue

Egypt's opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, has rejected President Mohamed Morsi's offer proposal for dialogue.

Earlier we reported that the talks between the government and the opposition underway, but it seems we may have jumped the gun. The front has said it will not enter a national dialogue with Morsi because his offer of talks was not genuine, Reuters reports.

The National Salvation Front said the Islamist leader's call to hold talks on Monday was "cosmetic and not substantive", a leading member of the coalition, Mohamed ElBaradei, told a news conference after the opposition politicians met.

The talks were called by Morsi to resolve a political crisis and end violence on the streets during anti-government protests that has led to 50 deaths. The coalition's conditions included a demand that Morsi accept responsibility for the bloodshed.

Port Said

Thousands of people turned out on the streets of Port Said on Monday to attend the funerals of the latest victims of violence in the Egyptian city where President Mohamed Morsi has declared a state of emergency, Reuters reports.

The mourners bore coffins above their heads and some waved teargas canisters at the camera. Seven people were killed on Sunday at funerals for the 33 who had died in riots a day earlier.Gunshots were heard and teargas was fired during Sunday's processions where rage turned against the government, but there were no immediate reports of a repeat of those incidents on Monday.

Egyptian mourners carry the coffins on Monday of six people killed in clashes in Port Said, on Sunday. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 2.16pm GMT

12.21pm GMT

Audio from Cairo

There is a feeling that Morsi’s state of emergency will be impossible to enforce, Patrick Kingsley reports from Cairo as teargas was being fired in the city to quell the latest unrest.

Much of Egypt has effectively already been under a state of emergency which has failed to quell the unrest, he pointed out. The official curfew is only going to exacerbate the situation, commentators fear.

The curfew is reminder of the Mubarak era and human rights campaigners are worried that it will allow the military to act with impunity against protesters.

Patrick added: “There is also a great deal of cynicism from the opposition about how long it has taken [Morsi] to react to the situation.”

Opposition figures have entered talks with the government aimed at quelling the violence despite their scepticism about the initiative, Patrick reports.

But there is frustration and “despair” with the opposition's ambitious calls for a new constitution and a new coalition government, he said.

People felt they were unrealistic demands and politically naive. People are immensely frustrated with the Muslim Brotherhood, but equally they feel the opposition isn’t doing a great job of opposing them.

Commentator Khaled Fahmy, from the American University in Cairo, told Patrick that Egypt was made up of three ruling factions in Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood, the police and the military.

“The Brotherhood hasn’t got control of the other two, which makes governing extremely difficult," he said.

This weekend's court decision to sentence to death 21 Al Masry football supporters, from Port Said, for their role in a deadly stadium disaster last year, illustrates how difficult Egypt has become to govern, Patrick said.

The decision provoked predictable violence in Port Said, but if the sentences had been more lenient there would have been violence in Cairo from supporters of the Al-Ahly team, Patrick said.

Updated at 2.16pm GMT

10.40am GMT

National dialogue in Egypt

The main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front coalition, says it will take up Morsi's offer of talks later on Monday, but some leading members are sceptical about the meeting.

Mohamed ElBaradei, tweeted: "Unless the president takes responsibility for the bloody events and pledges to form a government of national salvation and a balanced committee to amend the constitution, any dialogue will be a waste of time."

Reuters said the leftist opposition leader and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy, has made it clear he will not attend "unless the bloodshed stops and the people's demands are met".

Reuters adds:

The response highlights Egypt's deeply polarised politics. Although Islamists have swept to victory in a parliamentary poll and presidential vote, the disparate opposition has been united by Morsi's bid late last year to expand is powers and fast-track a constitution with an Islamist hue through a referendum.

Morsi's opponents accuse him of listening only to his Islamist friends and reneging on a pledge to be a president for all Egyptians.

Updated at 11.36am GMT

9.59am GMT

Patriot missiles

The first of six Patriot missile batteries intended to protect Turkey from Syrian threats is operational along the countries' shared border, Nato announced over the weekend, CNN reports.

The other five batteries, which NATO says are to be for defensive purposes only, are expected to be in place in coming days, it said.

Nato issued this PR video to mark the moving into position of Patriot missiles batteries by German troops above the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.

Cairo

Clashes have continued for a fifth day in the Egyptian capital, according to AP [via Lebanon's Daily Star].

Police are firing tear gas at rock-throwing protesters in Cairo a day after Egypt's president declared a state of emergency in three provinces hit hardest by political violence.

Patrick Kingsley, the Guardian's correspondent in Cairo, confirms that protesters took to the streets immediately after Morsi ordered emergency powers in the provinces along the Suez canal.

He also has more from Khaled Daoud – a spokesman for opposition National Salvation Front, condemning Morsi's inaction and divisive policies for the escalation in violence.

"Almost all over Egypt you're seeing dissatisfaction about the policies of the president," Daoud said, adding: "When the bloodshed happened on [Friday], all the president did was tweet."

Daoud also doubted the sincerity of Morsi's call for dialogue – similar initiatives have broken down in the past.

"Who has been invited? What will be on the agenda?" said Daoud. "There is no guarantee that what we agree on will be implemented."

Patrick adds:

The Black Bloc – anarchists wearing face masks and black clothing, a staple of anti capitalist protests in Europe – have been seen for the first time in Egypt this week. It's an intriguing development that might say something about how Egypt has changed since 2011. Going forward, the group seems likely to serves a rallying point for the Egyptian revolutionaries who have abandoned all hope of change through negotiation or peaceful means," writes Ashraf Khalil in Time.

Syria

•Barack Obama has defended his decision not to intervene in Syria by suggesting that to do so would provoke further violence. Speaking to New Republic magazine, the US president said: "In a situation like Syria, I have to ask: can we make a difference in that situation? Could it trigger even worse violence or the use of chemical weapons? What offers the best prospect of a stable post-Assad regime? And how do I weigh tens of thousands who've been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?" In a separate interview with CBS he added: "We do nobody a service when we leap before we look, where we ... take on things without having thought through all the consequences of it ... sometimes that we don't just shoot from the hip."